Kate's Issues
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: Kate doesn't want to divorce Justin. She retreats into herself after their fight. Kate/Justin. Spoilers for "Coming Home".


**Disclaimer**: I don't own Fairly Legal and never will. No copyright infringement intended.

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Kate doesn't want a divorce from Justin. She thought that maybe them working things out in their way when her husband surprised her with the divorce papers. It's one of the reasons she bolted from the restaurant the way she did. Justin is right – Kate doesn't want to deal with her own problems. She wants to fix things between them, but the mediator doesn't know how to.

And now, Justin's ended things completely between them. He probably lied the other day when he told Kate he wanted to work things out between them. She wouldn't be surprised.

Who is she kidding? Kate's lying to herself. Justin ended things between them for good because of her. It's her fault they're in this mess in the first place. And now, Kate really has no one to talk to. She took advantage of Justin with this last case, and she needs to deal with this. On her own.

To be honest, Kate's whole world turned upside down when her dad died and it hasn't righted itself since. She and Justin separated only a few months after her father's death, and now they're going to divorce. If she can ever get up the courage to sign the papers that Justin left her, that is.

There's nothing to mediate at the moment, so Kate just stares at the walls. Every once in a while, her cell rings, but she refuses to answer it. She doesn't want to talk to anyone.

She's startled when Lauren boards the boat. "What are you doing here?"

"Justin and Leo both called me. They were worried when you didn't answer the phone," Lauren explained to her stepdaughter.

"Oh. Well, I'm fine. Get out and leave me alone."

"Justin told me about the divorce papers. I'm sorry. I know we don't always get along, but I hope you're okay." Lauren gave her an encouraging smile.

"Whatever. Please get out."

Lauren was suddenly worried about Kate. Her stepdaughter was emotionless right now, and this was definitely unlike her. The last time Kate had acted like this, her father had just died. It had taken a long time for her to snap out of the funk. "Okay, Kate. I'll talk to you later." She was thinking about calling Spencer. He had been the only one who had been able to get the real Kate back last time. Not even Justin could reach out to his wife. When Kate retreated into herself, it never ended well.

A few hours later, Kate gave up and went to bed. She had sent her brother home, too, which surprised Spencer. He had always been able to bring Kate back to herself when she got in one of her moods. Justin had really messed her up.

Kate tried to sleep, but her mind kept going over the past few days – Justin tricking her with the divorce papers and then ending their relationship for good. It was all she could see. "I shouldn't have hurt him like that," she murmured to herself. Kate had so many regrets and there was nothing she could do about them. This was her mess and now she had to pay for her actions.

Whenever Kate woke up in the morning, she took a shower and headed towards her office. Despite feeling like crap, the mediator wanted to work to get her mind off Justin. She hoped it would help, even though deep down, Kate doubted it.

Justin surprised her by showing up around noon. "It's my lunch break, so I decided to visit you."

Kate tried her hardest to glare at him, but it was hard when she was stifling the urge to burst into tears. She normally didn't act like this, but her behavior dramatically changed when she hit rock bottom. It had only happened a few times in her life, and Kate hated it. However, she couldn't help it when rock bottom occurred. "Why?"

"Because I was worried about you."

"Why are you worried about me? Who sent you to talk to me? Because I know you don't want to." Kate hoped she hurt him. It would feel good to hurt him like the way he hurt her.

"You don't mean that. I am sorry for dropping the bomb on you like that, Kate, but I mean it. You need to deal with your own problems instead of avoiding them."

"I get it, Justin. Now get out." Kate hoped he took the hint. She didn't want to see him right now. It hurt her too badly.

He sighed. Justin knew he had done this to her, but they couldn't keep going on the path they were. It wouldn't end well for them. Looked like it hadn't ended well to begin with, however. "Fine. But I'm not going to leave you alone."

Kate made sure that Justin was gone when she bolted to the bathroom and locked herself in a stall. She tried her best to hold back the tears, but failed. The sobs brought her to her knees and Kate started to hyperventilate. After a few minutes, she stood up and tried to compose herself. In less than five minutes, she was successful and left the bathroom stall.

The mediator looked in the mirror, fixed her make-up, and returned to her office. Kate tried her best to pretend that nothing was wrong, that she hadn't just lost it in a bathroom. She was Kate Reed. She didn't fall apart like this.

After a busy day, one that included some relatively easy cases (Kate blamed that on Lauren seeing her the night before. She was fine now. Really. Lauren didn't need to baby her.), she finally went home.

Kate froze when she saw the divorce papers lying on a table. She hadn't wanted to think about this anymore today, but now it was staring her in the face. What was she supposed to do with them? She didn't want to sign them, but Justin wanted the divorce. And even if she refused to sign them, he would eventually get her own. It was a lose-lose situation.

She took a deep breath and reached for a pen. With shaking hands, Kate reluctantly signed her name on the papers. Justin would probably be thrilled to see them signed when she handed them to him in the morning. He had pushed for the divorce, after all.

Kate wasn't happy with this situation, but she had reluctantly accepted it. This was her life, her choices. Now she had to deal with the aftermath.

There wasn't any hope for her and Justin. They couldn't be together anymore. It was too late them for now.


End file.
